Drainage Wind Tunnel
May 2025 - Jun 2025
Infinite Cooling makes large modules that go on top of cooling towers and operate at high voltages to collect water. To collect this water, specialized drainage panels are used to condense the water and guide it into piping for reuse. This wind tunnel project was designed to analyze unexpected observations of systems deployed in the field which were causing reduced drainage efficiency. These drainage problems were believed to be related to the strong upwards air currents present in cooling towers. To verify this prediction, I was tasked with designing a custom small scale wind tunnel to analyze the observed phenomena.
Project Walkthrough
Look through the images and descriptions below to see how this project came to life!
01
CAD Design & Initial Construction
This project had a tight turn around timeline so I designed it to use parts we had available in the workshop where possible. All of the CAD was completed in solidworks and the frame was constructed out of leftover aluminum extrusion. Transparent acrylic side panels were ordered to make testing samples easily visible. 3D printing brackets and adapters were used to reduce cost and lead time for attatching components.
Completed frame and initial assembly of wind tunnel box
02
Completion of Assembly
To complete the wind tunnel, a custom 3D printed fan adapter was used to attach a duct to the wind tunnel which lead to a 10" duct fan. The fan was selected based on the required velocity and fan curves to be comparable to field conditions. The fan was setup in a "pull" configuration to reduce flow turbulence. A tube was added to pump in water, simulating the collection of water present in full size modules. This allowed for analysis of the water drainage.
Completed wind tunnel with fan and water inlet tubing attached
Successful replication of drainage tracking effect during test
03
Results
The wind tunnel successfully reproduced the drainage problems that were observed in field testing, specifically the effect of water being blown off the panels. By reproducing these problems, the wind tunnel could be used to test different drainage panel designs to improve drainage efficiency. A pitot tube and anemometer were fitted to the wind tunnel to measure velocity of the air stream, allowing the thresholds for drainage problems to be quantified. This improved understanding guided design decisions for new module designs.
Project Gallery
Explore the photos below for a more complete look at this project!
